PROVIDENCE - The softball team battled to a doubleheader split with the Blue Jays of Saint Joseph on Thursday evening. JWU took game one in five innings, 17-8 and then fell 8-1 in the nightcap.
Records:
JWU: 15-4, 7-3 GNAC
USJ: 5-3, 5-3 GNAC
Statistics:
Kaelani Gamble: 3-for-4, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R (Gm 1)
Olivia DiGiacomo: 3-for-4, 2B, 4 RBI, 1 R (Gm 1)
Jill Pulek: 2-for-3, 2 1B, SB (Gm 2)
Of Note:
Game one of the doubleheader started off on the wrong foot as back-to-back three run innings for the Blue Jays gave them a 6-0 edge heading into the bottom of the 3rd. Two singles and two doubles changed things in the home half of the 3rd when JWU answered with eight runs. Kaelani Gamble and Jenna Conroy smacked back-to-back RBI singles before Olivia DiGiacomo stood in and roped a two-run double to left center to cut the deficit to two. After Hailey Erickson was hit by a pitch, Julia Huzi connected for another two-run double for JWU and Huzi later scored on a fielding miscue by USJ to give the home team an 8-6 lead after three. The Blue Jays tied it, 8-8, in the next half inning before Gamble sent a solo shot out to right center in the 4th and collected eight runs in the fifth to come away victorious, 17-8.
The visiting Blue Jays took control in game two by keeping the JWU bats at bay. JWU connected on no more than two hits in an inning as they gathered their lone run in the bottom of the second to tie the game, 1-1. USJ pitcher, Natalie Amato, helped her own cause with a grand slam in the 3rd and a two-run single in the 4th to guide her team to the 8-1 win.
Up Next:
The Wildcats will travel to Brandeis on Saturday, April 24 for a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.
